i will never not be amazed by how well orange did weight in trigun. vash's antics and action scenes are exaggerated movement yes but they're so, so good at showing how characters keep their balance. like you don't really notice it while watching the show normally but when you play it frame by frame? hoo boy. and dont even get me started on the gravity shift/floating/legato using his powers scenes. insanely good work there
Here are my Dungeon meshi stickers! I basically thought "hey. lots of people will have cute food themed stickers. And that good and well, but I want that serious stuff too!" So I decided to make a series for the main gang based on sense of self instead!
the first rules of being pretentious and a hater in an honorable way is to not take yourself too seriously and acknowledge that you're being a little antisocial. if you become self-righteous about your correct attitudes and opinions on things that dont matter then you have become the very cringe you have sworn to fight
The best piece of writing advice I can give is that you should strive to be sincere rather than original.
You can't force originality. Originality will arise as a natural consequence of sincerity. Make the story completely and apologetically yours, and originality will come by virtue of it being your story.
Finally finished Dungeon Meshi and all I can say right now is that god. I love Marcille. Definitely my favorite character in the series by a landslide. I love this amazing girl who loves so much, who just wants to be able to live with the people she cares about throughout her cruelly long lifespan instead of seeing them die before her. I love how she, despite appearing to be a typical prim and proper elf in the beginning of the series, is actually a half-elf who struggles to find belonging, but manages to find it with the Touden Party, and especially with the Touden Siblings, who are also misfits and outcasts. Their bond is what drives this show; their mutual willingness to hurt others if it means keeping each other alive is literally what writes this story.
And Marcille's relationships with both siblings are important but jfc the growth and development of her relationship with Laios has got to be the highlight of the series for me. The two of them clearly aren't very close at the beginning of the story, only bound by their love for Falin and their common fascination in the dungeon, but by the end of the series they are without a doubt incredibly important to each other. In the end, it is Marcille who stays by Laios' side, who helps him rule as King.
as a fellow tristamp/trigaze only, i just want to say how happy i am to see your fanart and reactions to Trigun Stargaze, I LOVE reading all your tag rambles (they are the best of the best) and i absolutely adore your art for the series. your tristamp art (especially the livio one) has had such a strong grip on me for the last few years, thank you for the amount of effort love and heart you put in every piece🥹 i would love to hear your thoughts about the new season too (if you have any and wouldnt mind sharing ofc!!) have a good day💖💖
Hiya! Awww, well I'm not actually exclusively Tristamp/Gaze anymore- I watched the 1998 Anime adaption back in the same year that Tristamp came out- but all the same, I love Tristamp/gaze a lot, its very important to me 🥺
AWWW SDLKFJSDLF Thank youuuu ;;v;; I"m always delighted to hear that people love my tag rambles (and they can be a lot of fun to write too so double bonus there HAHA) And awwwwwwwww, aw that's delightful to hear (i'm super proud of that Livio one, thank you!), I'm honored its gripped you so hard- I'm really proud of a lot of those pieces, I really liked the concepts i was able to address and convey, it makes me happy to get such high praise as this- thank you!!
Okay so hilariously- I've watched everything except the last two episodes adslfkjKLSDJFKLSDG I watched all the way up to episode 9, then watched episode 10 when it came out- But I haven't touched it since xD Not cause of the show itself- I got really busy and my life got hecktic around the time, so i keep meaning to go back and finish but I haven't yet.
I can still ramble a bit about what i've seen so far (All spoiler gloves are off below the cut)
So I reallllyyy love Stargaze. It'd been so long since the first season, with a lot of time spent worrying about other stuff- I forgot what masterful story tellers Studio Orange are.
Like stars. The showcasing of character development is maybe one of the most important things to me. Vash has been static for 2 years because he basically decided to stay catatonic.
But like- stars, MERYL. MERYL'S WRITING MAKES ME ILL. She's like. Patient Zero for showcasing why Vash's kindness matters. She's grown a lot more confident in the years since Vash disappeared, and on top of that, she took his kindness and goodness to heart. She's so much more forward with him and other people than she was in Season 1? in Stampede she's often shown doubting herself, holding back, worrying, fretting. But in Stargaze she's SO confident. And like!!! She's matured- and Also she saw how staunch Vash was about his beliefs, and she went, "I want to be like that". It makes me so unwell. She's so good.
I also really enjoy this characterization of Milly asdklfjKLSJDG, She's so good. She's so FUNNY????? But also like. She's got that ability to snipe people with her insane emotional intelligence out of the blue. Catching things and pinning them down when other people hadn't noticed them.
The two girls' dynamic is just DELIGHTFUL. I love that both are competent in their own rights and while Milly definitely lets Meryl take point as her "mentor", their relationship is actually rather equal. They trust each other enough to talk about stuff and take each other's advice.
Vash is GREAT in this season too. Its so fun to see him come into his own. Really taking the lessons he realized at the end of Stampede to heart. And i love how he's even less willing to bend- and more willing to fight Nai. Like. In Stampede he was quick to shrivel away and run when confronted by Nai. But now he's been more and more willing to go toe to toe (mostly verbally) and defend humanity with all he's got. Specifically I really liked that scene when Legato was torturing him- And he just REFUSED to bend to Nai's reasoning. I feel like in Stampede he still would've had the same arguments- but he would've been more afraid? (And who could blame him T_T) while in Stargaze he wasn't even afraid, just DESPERATE. Desperate to communicate with Nai and put an end to this.
Also stars. Wolfwood makes me so unwell. I said to my friend- I think him being the one character without any design changes in his clothes for most the season was intentional. It shows how stagnant he is. After Julai he basically just. Walked away. He didn't change. Didn't grown. Didn't do anything. He probably didn't exactly know WHAT to do with himself. And its soooo. He shows up and its almost like nothing changed at all, but EVERYTHING changed and he still doesn't know how to accept and move on from everything.
Its what makes it even more poignant to me when something DOES change >:) but i'll get to that.
All in all its just a very good season. They did a good job figuring out some points for times sakes (knowledge from the '98 anime + I have SO many spoilers for Trimax despite never reading it). The animation is still Absolute FIRE and i'm still in awe that we get it at THIS quality. For real i wish it could've been 3 seasons if only for more of this animation.
I love the continued themes of redemption, love, and kindness. The fact that Vash has reached out to save every one of the guys on Knives' team despite the fact that he would have EVERY reason to fight back with lethal force. The way in the Midvalley ep we get confirmation that Wolfwood no longer really wants to kill either- (Stars the midvalley ep had me in tears. When Midvalley broke down after Vash said he would defend him too??????? I'm. I can't even. Thats just. So good. its soooooo goood man). I love that he reaches out to the Puppet guy (forgive me I forget his name) and even to Legato!!! Again and Again!!! Stars!!!!!
Also Nai man. Naaiiiiiiiii. I"m grabbing him and shaking him in my teeth (delighted). His sunk cost fallacyyyyyy. That scene when Elendira is like, "hey if he's willing to sacrifice all these plants, what are we to him" HmmmMMMMM. we were already making jokes about Nai being an absentee father in Stampede and now this just prolongs it /silly. But for real- the way its showing his on lost sense of morality. The fact that Nai is willing to kill his own sisters to save them????????? Stars. It gave me such a cold and visceral feeling during that scene. Its such a cruel thing to do and he's not even capable of recognizing it at this point. Not to even mention that it seems like all the plants in his care are doing poorly.
I love how messed up Legato is. He's so funny to mee asldkfjLAJSLSDG I want to grab him and shake him and also i think he needs to be wrapped in a blanket and put on timeout for a minute asdjflKJDSGSDJKL. He's so stupid (affectionate). Thats me being goofy tho- Narratively I think he's so interesting and fun. He's just as deep in this as Nai and its sooooo bad for him. My best friend pointed out how like- after holding Vash and torturing him for AGES, Nai didn't even ACKNOWLEDGE his efforts. Its sooooooo. And having watched ep 10, the way that Vash is worrying about Nai's feelings- and Legato takes that as an opportunity to grab that feeling and just, twist it. And its interesting- because Legato LEGITIMATELY believes he has a point- but like. Buddy. Nai is doing a murder. Also Vash has put a lot more effort into trying to communicate with Nai than Nai has EVER Done. Its a fascinating look into how his mind is working, and the way he's lost in his own unhealthy obsession over Nai and the plants. I also just love a freak who's insanely powerful.
Episode 8 might be my favorite so far. Because. Wolfwooooooddddddddddddd. Some of it is purely just me things tm. I'm eating up the tiny whump Crumbs of Vash being out of it at the beginning and then the post of it all in episode 9
But that aside. Stars. Starrrrrrrssssssssss. I'm so proud of Wolfwood and I'm so happy for him man. That whole episode had me gripped and I cried so hard by the end of it. The music, the emotions, the voice acting, the animation, the build up. Wolfwood finally being able to accept that he'd made a friend. Finally able to move on and change after years of being lost and without hope. And the fact that his adoptive caretaker didn't care. Those other kids didn't care. Everyone was just happy to see him again. And livio too!!!!! Stars!!!!! Him and Livio getting to bond afterwards is also everything to me they're so STUPID (affectionate)
There's just so much i love too, brad, luida, jessica- the sense of humor, the endless fight for hope and kindness. The OPENING?????? which took some getting used too but I listen to it ALL THE TIME NOW. Its just. Man. Its everything i could've hoped for in another season. the only thing i would've wished is that they actually got another season- because my only real criticism of Stampede is true w Stargaze- its pretty breakneck and I wish we had more room to breathe. They make it WORK so i don't really feel all that bothered by it in the end, And I don't fault Studio Orange for it. They probably didn't have a choice in the matter.
IDK man. Trigun is so good. I love it here. I have really enjoyed Stargaze up to the point i'm at (and this isn't against you dear asker, i've just had this issue before, but: This is Not Blanket Permission to Give Me Hints or Indications about the last 2 Episodes. I don't want to be Informed. I do not Want Winks, Hints, Nudges, Or Otherwise. I want to be 100% blind. The tiniest bit of a Vibe Check or Information Counts as a Spoiler) and I'm excited to see how it all ends!!
If there's anything specific you want my feelings/opinions on feel free to ask?? This was a very aimless ramble xD also my memory of how things go in Stargaze is a bit fuzzy now that its been a hottttt second since i've seen it. I also have more thoughts relating to the Manga/98 anime- but since you haven't seen those I wanted to avoid spoilers.
this has to be Zelgadis's dumbest moment by far. in the evo-R manga Rezo in the Hellmaster's Jar promises to tell Zelgadis his cure if Zelgadis brings Lina to him. Zelgadis ostensibly agrees and teams up with Ozel and Radok to capture Lina, trying to sell it as a huge dramatic betrayal and proof of his true ruthless mercenary character. he even puts his hood back up like he did at the beginning of the series!
now, Zelgadis being a secret bad guy might have been more plausible had this not been his first move (all panels R to L):
uhh well maybe that means nothing. let's move on.
Pokota yells about Zelgadis double-crossing them, which Zelgadis confirms. and he's got a message for his ex-friends:
yikes! astral vine against Lina?!? he sure looks serious now, this woulda been great animated. plus if it's a swordfight Lina doesn’t stand a chance. how will this end?
bro.
bro. oof. even by Zelgadis standards this is Not Smooth. "and I won't hold back if ANY of you try to stop me! I don't care WHAT I have to do! unless I have to face Amelia, in which case I will IMMEDIATELY FLEE!"
Amelia also knows better:
gee I wonder. why is Zel able to straight up kick Lina's ass but not even look you in the eye? it's a real mystery. Zel sucks so bad at this that Gourry and Lina agree with Amelia and are like "huh, he must be in trouble, we'd better follow and see what he's up to!"
to recap, Zel is barely five minutes into his ill-considered villain arc and his friends have already clocked it as a stunt. radok/zuuma doesn't believe him either. Zel has failed at literally everything he was trying to do here and the only real result is that he's not around when Gduza and Duguld show up again and Amelia almost gets shibari'd to death. gotta be in the rock bottom of bad zelgadis ideas
you may think this is just overanalyzing a few panels, that surely this isn't relevant to the story. but then you see Amelia's anguish and Zelgadis's look of deep regret are juxtaposed---and he asks her to forgive him---on the title page of chapter three.
(spoiler alert spoiler alert this whole thing ends with Zelgadis choosing to be with Amelia instead of asking Rezo for his cure. he sounds enthusiastic about that "good scolding", huh? and they leave for Seyruun together at the very end, something Amelia has been hoping for since the anime's first season. I will never be normal about this)
anyway congrats to Zel for failing so hard it permanently ruins his image. it's too bad we never got this in the anime because it could have been a hilarious filler/gag episode with Zel insisting he's a horrible heartless guy and repeatedly running away while the others chase after him and explain they all know he's a huge squish